Quarterly Revenue and Non-GAAP EPS Within Guidance Range
GT Advanced Technologies Inc.(NASDAQ: GTAT) reported results for the third quarter of calendar year 2012, which ended September 29, 2012.
Revenue for the third quarter of calendar 2012 came in at the low end of the company’s previously issued guidance at $110.1 million, compared to $167.3 million in the second quarter of calendar 2012 and $217.7 million in the third quarter of calendar 2011. Revenue by business segment for the third quarter of calendar 2012 was $95.9 million in polysilicon, $1.6 million in photovoltaic (PV), and $12.6 million in sapphire.
Gross profit for the third quarter of calendar 2012 was $35.0 million, or 31.8 percent of revenue, compared to $60.2 million, or 36.0 percent of revenue in the second quarter of calendar 2012 and $95.1 million, or 43.7 percent of revenue for the third quarter of calendar 2011.
Operating margin for the third quarter of calendar 2012 was 4.6 percent of revenue, compared to 14.7 percent of revenue in the second quarter of calendar 2012 and 24.7 percent of revenue in the third quarter of calendar 2011.
In the third quarter of calendar 2012, the company had net income of $2.3 million, compared to $14.8 million in the second quarter of calendar 2012 and $36.9 million for the third quarter of calendar 2011.
Non-GAAP net income was $0.7 million in the third quarter of calendar 2012, compared to $19.3 million in the second quarter of calendar 2012 and $45.8 million for the third quarter of calendar 2011.
Earnings per share on a fully-diluted basis was $0.02 in the third quarter of calendar 2012, compared to $0.12 for the second quarter of calendar 2012 and $0.29 for the third quarter of calendar 2011.
Non-GAAP earnings per share on a fully diluted basis came in at the upper range of guidance at $0.01 in the third quarter of calendar 2012, compared to $0.16 for the second quarter of calendar 2012 and $0.35 for the third quarter of calendar 2011.
At the end of the third quarter of calendar 2012, cash and cash equivalents totaled $479.2 million and the company had $298.1 million of total debt. This compares to $332.4 million of cash and cash equivalents at the end of the second quarter of calendar 2012 which included $145 million of total debt and $483.8 million of cash and cash equivalents at the end of the third quarter of calendar 2011 which included $90.9 million of total debt.
As of September 29, 2012, the company’s backlog was $1.5 billion. This included approximately $617.7 million in the polysilicon segment, $141.4 million in the PV segment and $717.6 million in the sapphire segment. Included in the total backlog was approximately $93.2 million of deferred revenue.
New orders for the third quarter of calendar 2012 were $49.2 million and included $11.1 million of polysilicon orders, $5.2 million of PV orders and $33.0 million of sapphire orders. The company had $56.3 million of negative adjustments to backlog primarily related to the termination of a polysilicon contract with a startup Chinese company which GT had previously indicated was at risk due to the customer’s failure to perform.
Management Commentary
“We are pleased that we remained profitable and achieved the upper end of our EPS guidance in Q3 in spite of the softer demand environment in our core markets, demonstrating the resilience of our business model,” said Tom Gutierrez, president and chief executive officer.
“In the face of economic and trade related challenges impacting GT and its customers, we have taken significant steps to lower our cost structure and to improve our ability to make strategic investments in R&D, next-generation technology and diversification initiatives that we believe will drive future growth and the creation of shareholder value.
“It remains our strategy to invest through these challenging times and we are positioned to do so with our healthy balance sheet which includes nearly $480 million of cash and cash equivalents,” said Gutierrez.
